A welt portion such as the terminal of hems of socks, a waist hem and sleeve hems of an undershirt, and a waist hem and leg hems of shorts, and the like is mostly formed as a pouchy double welt by folding the welt portion. In this case, the terminal is thick and thus a difference in level is generated between the terminal and a portion of the body continuous with the terminal. The difference in level appears through an outerwear. A phenomenon so-called “difference in level adversely affects appearance” is liable to occur. Therefore it is preferable to form the welt portion as thinly as possible as a single welt. But when the welt portion is thin, there arises a problem that the welt portion is liable to curl outward and turn up.
That is, when the welt portion is formed as the double welt, the welt portion little curls but there arises a problem of the generation of the difference in level. On the other hand, when the welt portion is formed as the single welt, the difference in level is not generated, but there arises a problem that the welt portion is liable to curl.
Therefore conventionally there is a demand that the welt portion is formed as the single welt so that the terminal is thin and yet does not curl.
In compliance with the above-described demand, the welt portion proposed as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2002-146609 (patent document 1) is formed without folding the welt portion, namely, not as the double welt, but formed as the single welt consisting of the double knit fabric formed by weaving an elastic yarn. In the above-described double knit fabric, as shown in FIG. 8(A), loops R are formed on the knit stitch S1 and the purl stitch S2 with a yarn supplied to the needles N1 of the row A and the needles N2 of the row B. Therefore the double knit fabric has an advantage that the tensile force of the right side surface and that of the wrong side are balanced with each other and that the knit fabric does not curl to the right side thereof. Compared with the case in which the welt portion is knit like a pouch, the single welt allows knitting steps to be simple and the knit fabric to be thin. But the proposed single welt consists of the double knit fabric which is thicker than the single knit fabric and does not solve the problem that the difference in level is liable to be generated at the terminal.
When the welt portion is formed as the single welt consisting of the single knit fabric, the knitting speed is about three times faster than the double knit. Thus the single welt enhances productivity and is capable of thinning the welt portion. But as shown in FIG. 8(B), in the single knit fabric, the loops R are formed on only the knit stitch S1 with a yarn supplied to the needles N3 arranged side by side in a row. Thus as described above, the single knit fabric is liable to curl on the knit stitch side and turn up outward.
To solve the above-described problem, the present applicant proposed terminal knitting texture in which the welt portion is formed as the single welt consisting of the single knit, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-124291 (Patent Document 2). As shown in FIG. 9, in the set up area 2 of the terminal knitting texture where knitting is started, the courses composed of the mixture of knit and miss are knit with an elastic yarn. The welt knitting area 3 continuous with the set up area 2 has a plurality of courses knit with a ground yarn. In each of a plurality of the courses of the welt knitting area 3, miss and tuck are combined with knit. The positions of the knit, the miss, and the tuck are so dispersed that the tensile force of the knit stitch and that of the purl stitch are balanced with each other to prevent the knit stitch side from curling.
Because the above-described terminal knitting texture consists of the single knit, the terminal knitting texture is capable of solving the problem of “difference in level adversely affects appearance” and in addition, the tensile force of the knit stitch and that of the purl stitch are balanced with each other in the welt knitting area 3. Therefore it is possible to prevent curling from being generated on the knit stitch side. In addition, because the courses of the set up area 2 composed of the mixture of the knit and the miss are knit with the elastic yarn, it is possible to impart an appropriate degree of a tightening force to the terminal and yet prevent the set up area 2 from curling outward.
The above-described terminal knitting texture of the patent document 2 consists of the single knit so that the terminal knitting texture is thin and yet can be prevented from curling at the welt portion thereof. But the terminal knitting texture has room for improvement in enhancing fitting feeling of a user at the terminal thereof and the feeling of touch when the user wears clothing having the terminal knitting texture by imparting a proper degree of a tightening force to the user's body.
Patent document 1: Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2002-146609
Patent document 2: Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-124291